Punishment
by maddy-smile
Summary: It's all because of the rebels, they brought this all upon us. They were only trying to get out of the Capitol's rule, but they were caught. And anyone who gets caught, must be punished. Full summary inside. R&R please!
1. Chapter 1

**Here it is! For all of you that know me, you know that I've made some psychotic stories in the past….. Some that made no sense. But here it is, finally, my first serious fanfiction!**

**Summary: 14 year old Criistal Smith (pronounced Crystal Smith-Yeah, very original, right?) is the popular daughter of the mayor of district 4. When she's sent off to fight in the arena, she must leave her usual life of luxury and fend for herself with 23 other tributes. Happy Hunger Games!**

_***READ THIS!***_** male tribute's name is Tres. It's pronounced Tray. And Criistal is pronounced Crystal. If you need me to explain how to pronounce other names, review and let me know!**

* * *

**Chapter one: The Reaping**

* * *

I pull my blonde hair back into a perfect bun, smoothing the sides back with the root, berries, and water concoction my mother drew up to help keep my hair in place. My dress is lying on my bed, shimmering slightly due to the faint morning light coming in through my window. I sigh, and look at it for as long as I can stand before finally putting it on. I look in the mirror, and put the final touches on my Reaping Outfit.

The girl in the mirror stares back at me, her blue eyes wide. She looks beautiful in the sky-blue dress, the bodice tight, the fabric hugging her legs and cutting off just above her knees. She slowly slips on her white heels, wraps a diamond necklace around her pale white neck, and matching diamond earrings that fell low, nearly brushing her shoulders. But although her outer shell is shining and beautiful, her insides are raw and painful with the bitter agony of knowing that another boy and girl, two more innocent children from district four, will be sent off to fight to the death in the Arena for the pleasure of the Capitol.

_It's because of the rebels._ I tell myself. _It's their fault._

But I can't blame them. The Capitol's rule has always been a gruesome rule, and they were only trying to end it.

_But they got caught._ My mind argues again. _And anyone who gets caught must be punished._

I step away from the mirror, sighing and moving downstairs to wait for Mother and Father to finish getting ready so we can go down to the square and stand with the rest of our district to find out who will be moving on to the Arena. The chair I wait in seems colder today, but then again so does everything else on Reaping Day. When they finally come downstairs, I rise, and we head for the carriage that will take us to the Reaping.

_l::l_

We pull into the square, and I'm immediately escorted to the roped-off area with all of the other girls from our district by the Peacekeepers. I stand with the others, the sweet smell of the ocean hitting me. All I can think about is how two more people from our district may never smell the ocean spray again.

_The Capitol rules supreme._ My mind flashes to a part of the Treaty of Treason. _As we always will._

Sparkle Hischire skips onto the stage, her purple hair bouncing, and her pink skin glowing in the sunlight.

The mentors, Cray and Niky, are sure to give her lots of room when she comes onto the stage.

Her high pitched Capitol accent reaches its peak as she squeaks out "Happy hunger games! And may the odds ever be in your favor!" She smiles, her purple lips spreading across her face.

After the Treaty of Treason is read, she reaches into the ball holding the names of every girl- from the age of 12 to 18- in district four, and pulls out the first female tribute's name.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Sparkle squeaks, her jeweled eyes scanning the crowd, "Our female tribute for district four is….." She opens the slip of paper.

"Criistal Smith!" She smiles, but you can tell she's just as shocked as the rest of the district. "Criistal? Would you like to come up to the front of the stage, please?" she scans the crowd.

_What? __This isn't supposed to happen….. My name is entered three times. Three slips of paper out of thousands….. No, I don't pay for tessarae. I don't need to…. There's some kind of mistake….. I'm supposed to _watch_ the Hunger Games, not _be _in them!_

Before I realize what I'm doing, I'm slowly ascending the stairs, my back straight and my eyes forward. The crowd has fallen silent, with the exception of my mother's sobbing, and occasional screams of "Why".

_Think, Criistal. You need to get your head straight before all of Panem sees you as a weakling._

I get to the top of the stage and smile for a few seconds, before my face slowly falls into a hard palette of stone, showing no emotion.

Sparkle has now skipped over to the second ball, her hand digging through the boys' tributes' names. She picks out a small piece of paper and opens it. Her smile widens, and she scans the crowd again. I'm careful not to show emotion.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Sparkle squeaks again, "The male tribute for district four is…" she unfolds the paper sitting in her hand.

"Tres Bartholemue!" She calls out.

Tres is athletic. He's won numerous swim meets in our school competitions, and he's a fisherman's son, which means he knows how to handle traps and knives, and even a trident.

His brown hair falls into his eyes, but you can still see them shining like emeralds when he looks at you. His bronze skin contrasts mine, and his muscles defiantly outnumber mine 1,000 to one. He slowly ascends the stairs, getting cheers from the fellow swimmers, but he refuses to acknowledge them. We shake hands as the anthem plays, and I get one last look at my home before the Peacekeepers are taking me away.

* * *

**Review please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Goodbyes**

* * *

I'm immediately escorted into the Justice Building, the sunlight disappearing from my view as the cold, hard doors shut tight behind me. I'm roughly shoved into the elevator, all ten-tons of metal sliding shut as I back into the corner, hugging myself and shaking slightly.

The elevator slides up the side of the Justice Building, the metal sliding against each other, sounding like screams…. Wails to stop. To please, please stop.

_The screams of the tributes_ _after they entered the arena._

_After _I _enter the arena._

The elevator comes to a stop, and I'm roughly pushed out by the Peacekeepers, who take me down a long hallway until we come to a stop in front of a door. I'm taken in, and set down on the only piece of furniture in the room: a small, wooden chair.

I have many visitors come and go. Friends, family, people yelling, people crying. Some even telling me I've finally gotten what's been coming to me after all these years.

And then my parents. Mother immediately pulls me into a hug, tears rolling down her face as she repeats "my baby, my baby." And telling me to fight, though it's useless. I know my fate. But I tell her I will anyways. Father's next, putting his hand on my shoulder and only saying "You'll come back. It comes naturally." And hands me my token.

It's a small necklace, the chain sterling silver, with a small diamond hanging off the canter. He takes off the necklace I have on now and replaces it.

"It was your aunt's. She would want you to wear it." He said, and then the Peacekeepers take them away.

I'm escorted to the train platform, where there are cameras and lights flashing from all different angles. I'm careful not to let my face fall from it's current state, mad and unblinking. I see Tres for a moment entering the other end of the train, before the cameras block my view.

Sparkle comes up to me, and leads me to my room.

It's the biggest room I've ever seen.

Beautiful silk curtains line the windows, as well as the king sized bed in the corner. Five dressers are shoved against the walls, though I have no clothes to put in them. But when I open the drawers, however, clothes fill them all. Through another door is the bathroom, filled with perfumes and sprays of all different sorts, as well as a shower that could hold ten people, and a bathtub big enough for five. Three sinks sit across from the toilet, though I don't know why there would be three. But then again, why do they make the bathroom big enough for a family of six?

I'm not in the mood to do anything but cry, so I fall onto the bed and let the tears flow until there's nothing left.

_l::l_

At around six I'm woken from my sleep by Sparkle rapping on my door and telling me I have five minuets to get down to the dining car.

I quickly fix my hair and wipe my face, trying to rid all evidence that I was ever crying.

I make my way through the silent halls until I find the dining car, and am embarrassed to know im the last one to show up. I sit across from Niky, and Tres sits across from Cray. Sparkle seems to feel it's her duty to sit at the head of the table and monitor us.

During dinner, Niky and Cray strategize.

"Alright," Niky says, swiping a bit of her cropped blue hair out of her gray eyes, "Let's start. Tres, what do you know how to do?"

"Um…" Tres thinks for a bit before responding: "I swim, throw and use knives, and a trident, and I think I can probably use a spear…"

Cray interrupts, "There are no 'probablys' in the Hunger Games. 'Probably' will get you killed. Do you know your roots and berries? Anything like that?"

"I don't know roots and berries," Tres says, his head down.

"I know roots and berries." I chip in, and all focus is on me. I regret saying anything.

"Do you know any weapons?" Niky asks, and I just shake my head. I'm a mayor's daughter. I don't know squat.

"Well then you're going to need to learn." She said.

Sparkle is obviously bored. "Let's go watch the recaps!" She squeaks and hops out of her chair. We go to the screening area and begin the recaps of the Reapings.

District one's tributes look menacing. Bryn, the male tribute, is huge. And Brit, the female, is also rather muscular herself, but that doesn't take away from her beauty.

District two is also something to worry about. The male tribute, James, is also well built, and Tanya, the female, looks just insane enough to now how to kill you at least 50 different ways.

District three's tributes are obviously trained. Zak, the male's eyes shine with the idea of killing, and Kaytlyn, the female, actually volunteers.

Then comes us. I look very serious about being called, and Tres just looks evil.

_What a show for the Capitol._

I don't pay much to the other districts, but the last three stand out.

District eleven's tributes are also small… or at least the female, Antoinette, is. She's only four foot, and she's also fourteen. Kris, the male, is fourteen, and although he's smaller than the other male tributes, he's one of the more athletic.

District twelve's tributes are both small and starving. It's a miracle they're still alive.

I remember the winners of the Hunger Games about ten years ago. They're legends, considering that's been the only time they've let two people win. Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark aren't the mentors this year. Which is good for me, but not good for the two small, crying children standing on the stage.

I can't stand it anymore. I look away and grimace as the announcers put on their cheeriest voices saying: "This is going to be the best Hunger Games yet! Everyone, welcome your tributes for the 84th annual Hunger Games!"

* * *

**Okay:**

**District one: ****Bryn = Bry-an**

**Brit**

**District two: ****James**

**Tanya**

**District three: ****Zak = Za=k**

**Kaytlyn = Kay-t-lin**

**District eleven: ****Kris = Chris**

**Antoinette = An-toe-net**

**Review****!**

**~Maddy**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three: The Capitol

* * *

**

_I'm running through the Arena, the tributes chasing me with multiple weapons. __I reach into my pocket, and find only pebbles to defend myself with._

_When I look down at my hands again, the pebbles have turned to sand, and are dissapearing through my fingers._

_I round a corner, dissapearing into the trees, and instead of finding woods, like I thought, I'm in the training center, the Gamemakers looking down upon me._

_"We know what you've done." Hugh Fringe, the Head Gamemaker, booms._

_"What did I do?" I whisper, a tear rolling down my cheek._

_"You know what you've done, and you've been caught." He said. I fall to my knees, and beg for forgiveness._

_"Yoo've been caught" The Gamemakers chant, "And now you must be punished."_

_"But I'm innocent!" I cry, but it's useless. They keep their chants steady, and leave me to cry, curled up in the training center, alone._

_Those who are caught, must be punished._

_Those who are caught, must be punished._

_Those who are caught, must be punished..._

_l::l_

I wake screaming to the pounding of my door, and high, squeaking voices on the other side. I rub my eyes and throw the warm covers off of the top of me, and shiver as my bare feet hit the floor.

_It was only a dream..._

The voices outside hush each other. I roll my eyes and throw open my door.

One of the three people squeals as soon as the door opens, "I can't hold it in anymore! I'm so EXCITED! I can wait for the opening ceremonies; Yanil's going to have so much FUN with you!"

She has bright yellow curls bouncing on the top of her head, has white- bleached white- skin and black eyeliner caking her eyes. Her ruby red lips take up about half of her face, and her big blue eyes are shining with excitement. She's taller than the other two, who also have huge grins on their faces.

"Manda! Calm down! We have to make her beautiful first!" One of the smaller ones says.

"I know Page, but look at her! She's like, a _total_ empty canvas!" Manda squeaks.

_Oh God._

Page is a shorter girl than Manda, probably my height, with pale green skin, chin length white hair and bug eyes. She's not very attractive, and has a pointy chin and hooked nose, giving her the allusion of a bird. I wonder to myself if she had that surgically done…

The two girls squeal a little and jump for a few seconds before finally calming down and taking a good long look at me. They then look at the third girl, who has been silent the entire time, staring at my hair as if it is about to spontaneously combust.

"What do you think, Shay? Anything we can work with?" Page asks the girl. Shay's face doesn't change from her look of utter concentration.

Shay has coal-black hair that falls to her shoulders, and bronze skin that isn't just tanned, but literally _bronzed._ Her eyes are brown, and have small jewels in the corners of them.

"Of course. When have I ever _not _been able to work with someone?" She says, and a small smile breaks out over her face before she jumps with Page and Manda. "Let's get started! This _is_ exciting! EEP!" And they all shove their way into my room and start running around like mad, pulling things out of nowhere and throwing them all over the place.

I'm suddenly very scared.

I'm stripped of all clothing and thrown into the massive bathtub in my bathroom, which- until this moment- I haven't used at all. I'm then scrubbed down with multi-colored liquids until my skin is raw.

I'm then thrown a white fluffy robe at me and told to put it on, and then shoved into a squishy chair by the girls still squealing and chattering like maniacs. Shay tugs at my hair until it feels like it's going to be ripped off of my head, Manda works on my makeup until it feels like I have a mask on instead of my normal face, and Page works on my nails until I can literally see them shining from the corner of my eyes. I don't feel like me.

But then again, the Capitol took _me _away as soon as I stepped onto the train.

I'm now Criistal Smith, Capitol puppet.

It's nice to meet you.

_l::l_

At least over an hour later, I'm plucked, scrubbed and caked with makeup. The three girls stand back to get a good look at me, and then the door behind them opens and they all separate.

My stylist walks through the door, holding what has to be my costume under a big bag.

I heard her name earlier, I believe it's "Yanil"… all I know right now is that she looks like an awesome stylist… very practical.

Her hair is black with white streaks, and she has black glasses over her heavily eye-lined eyes. She has a very simple outfit; ripped jeans, a black and white shirt and black flats. She has a small smile on her face as she looks over my hair and makeup, and then she turns to the others. "Out." Is all she says, and they practically run out of the room. She rolls her eyes.

"They're so… annoying." She mutters as she leans over to mess with my outfit, which she has well hidden from my view. Then she stands up straight and claps her hands. "So!" She sighs, "What are we going to do with you?" she smiles, and I smile, too.

"I don't really know… Back home I just put my hair in a bun and wore a pretty dress… I've never been to the Capitol before…" My smile falters, and Yanil's only grows wider.

"It's okay sweetie. We do things a little differently here, but you're in good hands…. Now. I'm not so sure about them…" She nods her head in the direction of the door in which the girls just left. I laugh.

_It feels good to laugh._

This might not be so bad after all….

* * *

**Yanil is pronounced Yeah-neel.**

**I'm trying to figure out what the theme for their Opening Ceremonies… but I'm drawing blankssss…. Review and tell me what you think! :)**

**~Maddy**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four: The Revealing**

Yanil puts her hands behind her back and turns to me, smiling.

"Now, I know you probably want to see your dress, huh?" She asks, and I laugh.

"Yes, and I'd like to see the rest of me, too." I say.

"Well too bad! Not until I'm finished! Mwahaha." She does a kind of evil laugh, and that only makes me laugh harder.

_It feels good to laugh…._

Yanil walks up to me, and puts a blindfold over my eyes. I hear a rustling, and I'm guessing she's pulling my dress out of the garment bag I saw earlier.

I feel the soft material slip over my head, and I hear a zipper riding up my back.

I can hear Yanil moving in front of me, and she takes off my blindfold.

"Tada," She says, and sweeps her hand in front of the mirror.

I gasp.

* * *

**Cliff hangerrr! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter five: The ceremonies

* * *

**

"Yanil," I whisper, the words slipping off of my tongue, "It's _gorgeous._"

And it is.

My blonde hair falls in ringlets past my shoulders, with a small tiara placed on the top. My face is covered in white, and I have black glittered eyeliner underneath my sparkling blue eyes. My eye shadow is a faint purple, and my lips are a faint pink.

But what takes my breath away, is my dress.

I am a mermaid.

My breasts are covered in a shimmering purple material, and it glitters and shines every time I move. Just below my breast-line, the dress falls into a silk material that is dyed a faint shade of green. It hugs my curves down to my knees, where it fans out beautifully, surrounding my ankles and giving me the allusion that I'm floating, almost in mid-air. I slip on my blue heels, and I can't help but marvel at how beautiful I came out. I've never looked like this before.

"Now," Yanil says, taking my hand and lading me to the door, "Let's show the Capitol what you're made of."

_l::l_

We get off the train and head to the colleseum-type arena that we are going to be presented at. We are lined up according to district, and put onto our chariots.

I look at Tres, and try not to sniker.

He's a fisherman, his outfit being more of an "I'm going to show you as much skin as possible" aura to it.

Don't get me wrong, it isn't bad. He has no shirt on, and he only has a pair of shorts to cover him from the waist down.

Really, it isn't that bad….. It's his face that made me laugh.

His face is twisted into an unhappy scowl, as if he has just smelled rotting food. You can tell he's uncomfortable with his outfit, while I'm very happy with mine.

I laugh, and he looks at me.

"What?" He asks.

"You look very uncomfortable, is all. It's kind of funny."

"Well you look…." His voice trails off, and he looks away, obviously annoyed. I laugh again.

The anthem sounds, and District one's chariot pulls out.

We're hurried onto our chariots by our stylists, just as District two pulls out.

"Remember," Yanil says, and a smile spreads across her face.

District three pulls out. We are lining up at the door.

I suddenly don't want to do this, when I hear the thousands of people screaming in the colleseum.

"Smile, and have fun!" she calls, just as we're pulling out of the gate.

I hold my hand over my eyes when I'm hit with a blinding white light. I hear screams, and whistles, and it hits me.

_Smile, and have fun!_

And so I do.

I wave, and after a while, my smile takes up half of my face. I'm practically jumping out of the chariot as I blow kisses and wave to the people of the Capitol, as they take it in.

We pull to a stop in front of the Training Center, and the cameras pan across our faces. I smile and wave, and the Capitol cheers louder.

_For you?_

_Or for your death__?_

After President Summer's speech, we are taken into the Training Center, and rushed into a glass elevator, with Yanil, Niky, Cray, Sparkle, Manda, Page, Shay, Tres, and his styling crew. I'm amazed it can hold this many people, and _still _have room for at _least_ ten more.

Yanil hits the little round "4" button, which lights up, and we are shot upwards, my stomach lurching and my knees almost giving way.

_This is so unlike District four's elevator…_

_Silent._

_Just like the citizens of the Capitol's voices, against the President._

_Silent._

The elevator comes to a stop, and we all climb out.

Sparkle's beaming as she literally drags me to my room, squeaks "Dinner in an hour!" and leaves, bouncing down the hallway to her room.

I pull off my dress and tiara, and my shoes, of course, and head to the bathroom. I step in the shower, and am immediately lost with all of the buttons sitting in front of me. I hit the big green button saying "on" in big lack letters, and am immediately watered down on all sides.

I laugh and hit a purple button, and am bubbled-down with lavender soap, and then, after pressing a brown button, am scrubbed down with one of those shower-brushes I've only heard about.

After making sure I've used every button and seen what it could do, I step out of the shower onto a mat, looking for a towel.

Instead, I'm immediately blow-dried from every angle possible, and in ten seconds, I'm completely dry.

Wow.

After I've thrown on a robe, I head to the closet. A touch-screen pad greets me by name, and I jump.

I touch the flashing screen and am immediately shown the entire closet in front of me. As I swipe my fingers across the screen, making different combinations of what seems like thousands of articles of clothing, I find a nice outfit and press the **DRESS **button at the bottom of the screen.

The outfit I've chosen- a tight-fitting black shirt with a light blue mini skirt and knee high boots with a blue headband- are brought out of the closet on what seems to be a type of conveyor belt.

I change, and head down to the dining room.

I'm one of the first people in the dining room, and when I see the food laying along the wall on a cart, I ask the server if I can serve myself.

She silently answers by nodding her head, her straight black hair bobbing.

I shrug off the silent gesture and fill my plate with food, and go and sit down to wait for the others.

After a while, they all come in, fill their own plates with food, and join me.

The silent servers come in and out of the room, without saying a word. It confuses me.

"Why don't you speak?" I ask the one that stood by the cart of food. Her eyes widen, and she quickly rushes out of the room.

_What did I say?_

Sparkle squeaks out a laugh- at least I think it's a laugh… - and says, "Sweetie, they _can't _speak. They're Avoxes."

"They're… What?" I ask, feeling incredibly stupid.

"Avoxes." Niky says, without looking up from her food. The word seems to pain her. I don't think I should ask why. "They committed a crime, so they were brought here, had their toungs cut out, and now they serve the tributes, who are also being sent to their deaths, to show them- and everyone else in Panem- what happens when they commit a crime."

My mouth is open. I quickly close it and say "Oh." And silently pick at my dinner until everyone's finished.

"Those who are caught, must be punished." I murmur, and although Tres is looking at me, I don't care.

_Those who are caught, must be punished._

_Those who are caught, must be punished._

_Those who are caught, must be punished._

That's all that runs through my head as we head to the Viewing room to watch the opening ceremonies.

Bryn face glares straight ahead, his tuxedo with little diamond finishes, and Brit, who is bouncing around and flipping her hair every which-way, is covered in fabulous jewels, the kind they make for the capitol.

James and Tanya both are just wearing simple but elegant outfits. Tanya, whos psychotic glint in her eyes only growing as the Capitol cheers her on, is wearing a floor-length shimmering pink gown, and James, who's looking at Tanya lustfully- while sickening me- is wearing a sky-blue suit.

Zak and Katylyn are also wearing simple outfits, much like James and Tanya's, but theirs' are accented with twinkling lights, to show the electronics industry they come from. Zak is merely smiling and waving and Katylyn is soaking in her glory, sticking her chest out to make her breasts seem larger and blowing kisses to the male Capitol members.

Our chariot is next. I look beautiful, softly glowing in the faint evening light, and when I start smiling and waving, that Capitol members only cheer louder. Tres is even smiling and happy, however uncomfortable he may have looked before.

Antoinette's floor-length gown is a dark green, and it sports blossoms, as if it was springtime, when the trees in District eleven are in full bloom. Kris' outfit is a lighter green, and is also holding blossoms. Both are lovely.

After the Opening Ceremonies are over, we all head to our rooms for the night, my mind still thinking about the Avoxes.

_Those who are caught, must be punished._

* * *

**This chapter's so LONG!**

**I know her attitude has kinda changed, but that's the kind of person Criistal is. I mean, like, she was upset about getting drawn and now she's kinda having some fun. But when she gets into the Arena, a whole different side of her comes out. Trust me.**

**Okay, the reason I didn't do anything special with District two is cuz I don't remember what they make! Hahaha. What do you think of their outfits? Like them? Hate them? I won't know unless you review!**

**~Maddy**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter six: The Interviews

* * *

**

_President Summer smiles as she walks into the room I'm in, the walls a bleached white and the lights a bright, blinding fluorescent color._

_I'm strapped to a table, tubes stick in my arms, liquid rushing in and out of my body._

_The President smiles wider, her fanged, sharp teeth giving her the illusion of the Cheshire cat from the children's movie _Alice in Wonderland,_ which they showed in my school a while ago to show us what it was like before the Capitol. And believe me, if that was how the Earth was before the Capitol rose to power….. I don't know which I'd like better._

_Probably the world with talking caterpillars. At least there they don't murder innocent children._

"_Hello Criistal." She hisses, and I frown. "Are you going to say hello back?" She asks, and her smile only grows wider, and her voice grows sweeter._

_I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. I freeze. I open my mouth again, and I realize…. Something's missing._

_My tongue._

"_That's right," President Summer's voice growing higher and sweeter with every syllable, "Because those who are caught," Her smile reached maximum height, along with her voice "must be punished."_

"NO!" I scream, when my head hits the floor. A faint stream of light floods through the window, and I sit up, dazed and confused. It seems that I fell out of my bed.

I roll my tongue in my mouth, and sigh with relief when I know it's still there.

_Just a dream._

There's a pounding at my door, and I slowly rise from the floor, heading to the door that now seems like it's going to fly off of its hinges.

I fling open the door, and Manda's hand stops inches from my face.

"OHMIGOSH! I ALMOST RUINED YOUR FACE!" She squeaks, and she bounces into the room, whirling me around and throwing me into a chair that Page has just pulled behind me.

"Your guys' interviews are todaaaaay!" Shay sings, stretching the last word out about five syllables.

Oh God.

_l::l_

Another hour later, I'm still unable to see myself as they finish with my makeup, hair and nails.

Yanil enters, and they once again practically sprint out of the room. When Yanil looks at me as if she's amazingly shocked, I laugh.

"So, your interview outfit." She smiles, and pulls out the most beautiful dress I've ever seen.

It's a faded purple, cutting off at the knees. The thin straps holding it up are made of diamonds, and the fabric shimmered along with my diamond-studded heels.

My hair is straightened this time, falling low beneath my breast-line, with another tiara and diamond earrings. My face has no white finish to it this time, my eyes a smokey gray, and my lips a faint pink.

I smile, and Yanil's face lights up.

_l::l_

Cesar Flickerman bounces on stage, his pink skin shimmering with some kind of glitter implant thing he had done.

"Welcome to the 84th Hunger Games!" He announces, smiling that white, fake smile he's so famous for. "Let's meet our tributes!"

He sits down in his seat, with another seat on the other side of a glass table for the tributes to sit in while he interviewed them.

He calls up Brit, from district one, and I watch as she bounces across the stage, flipping her hair every time it even inches its way to the front of her shoulders. She sits down across from Cesar, and smiles an award-winning smile that is so forced I have to try not to laugh.

Brit laughs at every joke, flips her hair at least a dozen times, most likely more, before the buzzer sounds and she receives a half-hearted applause from the audience. I actually snicker. I just couldn't hold it back.

Bryn's interview goes by un-interestingly.

Tanya's next, and skips her way to the chair. Cesar laughs- a little nervously- and goes into their interview.

"So, Tanya," he asks, "How did you feel when your name was reaped?" He moves his arm back a little when he sees her smile.

"Well," She starts, her voice menacing, "I was genuinely happy. If I wasn't reaped this year, I was definitely going to volunteer. I've been living my whole life for the moment my name was drawn. I'm going to win, Cesar, and that's guaranteed." She smiles, and the crowd murmurs in what seems to be both excitement and fear.

"Well, that's…. interesting." Cesar smiles, but you can tell he's terrified of this girl. I am too.

After Tanya is James. He's going for the "sex appeal" angle, which he pulls off nicely, but it's a little over-done.

Katylyn is called next, and she sticks her breasts out as she walks, and when she sits, crosses her legs and leans into the table, her breasts showing a little too much for any girl's liking in the Capitol.

Cesar smiles and goes into their interview.

"So Katylyn, tell me, how do you feel about your interview dress?" He asks, and a couple girls at the tribute's table laugh, and a LOT of girls in the audience giggle. Katylyn giggles, too. I don't think she understands we're laughing AT her, and not WITH her….

"Well, I think it makes my boobs look really good, and I know it makes my ass look hot!" She smiles, and the guys in the audience hoot and holler, followed by a couple of "Ow!"s from where their girlfriends or wives slapped them in the back of their heads.

I laugh out loud. I think they showed me laughing, but I don't care. I'm too busy thinking about how stupid and conceded this girl was.

Next is Zak, and he's very scary, looking straight ahead and answering Cesar in a monotone voice.

When his buzzer sounds, I find myself walking across the stage before my brain has registered what's going on.

The next thing I know, I'm sitting in front of Cesar, smiling and waving.

"So, Crestal," He starts, but I stop him.

"Actually, Cesar, it's pronounced Criistal." I laugh, and the crowd laughs, too.

"Oh, right. I did that on purpose." Cesar smiles, and gets a few boos from the audience. We laugh some more.

_Such fun we have..._

"So _Criistal,_" Cesar makes sure to pronounce my name especially right this time, "What did you think after your name was drawn at the Reaping. You're the Mayor's daughter, is that correct?"

"Yes, actually," I say, the words coming out naturally easy. "I am. All I really thought was that there had to be some mistake, or at least some other girl named Criistal in the crowd!" I laugh a bit here, and so does Cesar. "But when I realized it was, in fact, real, my only thought was: 'I'm coming home. No matter what.'" My face becomes serious, and I smile after a couple of seconds, to lighten up the mood. I don't want to scare sponsors away, right?

"Really? How sweet. Any family, other than your parents, to go home to?" He asks, smiling. My heart drops.

"No." Was all I whisper, and looked at the floor. "No one else."

"I see, who's necklace is that, the one that you're wearing?" He asks me.

_God, did they dig up my history or something?_

"It was my aunts," I whisper, and I hold the diamond, as if it will fall off. "She died not too long ago."

"That's tragic. Can I ask how?" Cesar's face, though a bright pink, has fallen. I realize the crowd has gone completely silent, but I'm not ready to tell them. Not like this.

"I'd rather not say." I whisper, the words barely audible as they exit my mouth.

A tear slides down my cheek.

The buzzer sounds, and I stand and cross the stage without another word.

* * *

**Review? (:**

**~Maddy**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter seven: Revelations

* * *

**

I watch Tres' interview with interest. He plays the shy boy, but laughs at all the right moments, and occasionally throws in a comment here and there. All around good.

I sat zoned out fro the next couple of interviews, and I decided that tonight, I'd go to the roof.

I'd heard of the roof before. Not many tributes went up there, but some did, to feel the need to get away.

But of course, even on the roof, you couldn't get away.

Not with the force-field.

They wouldn't want any of their pretty little tributes to commit suicide before they could kill each other off, would they?

That wouldn't help the reviews.

I come back to reality Antoinette steps on stage, wearing another floor-length green gown, smiling and waving at the Capitol, her dimples making her look so much younger than fourteen.

She sits down across from Cesar, and pulls a strand of black hair behind her ear, revealing big, brown eyes.

Cesar smiles, and goes into the interview.

"Antoinette. Hello." He smiles, and so does she.

"Hello, Cesar." Is all she says, her voice light and whispy, like the wind.

"How are you?" He asks.

"I'm good, thank you. A little nervous." She rubs her hands together, and laughs.

"Oh, I would be scared too. How do you feel about that? This experience?" He asks.

"Well, I think that my stylist did a wonderful job on my dresses, and as soon as I'm over my stage-fright, I'll be okay!" She smiles, and then realization hits her.

"Oh!" She pipes, "You meant the Games! I was talking about the interview! I'm sorry!" She laughs, along with the audience members.

"It's perfectly alright dear." Cesar laughs and, in turn, so does the crowd.

The rest of the interview goes on normally, until it's time for Kris.

I zone out the rest of the interviews, up until the anthem plays and we all rise for it. Afterwards we're escorted off the stage and back to our floors, and from there I immediately head for the roof.

I find Tres up there, looking over the railing at the crowds below.

He doesn't turn when he says "It seems only the Capitol is free."

"But not even they are, when you think about it." I reply.

"How?" He asks, still not moving from his position.

"Well, the President still controls these people, right? If she told them: 'go jump off of a cliff' they all would, without even questioning it. It's wired into their brains, they just don't realize it." I join him on the rail, looking down at the swarms of people walking the streets of the Capitol.

"Yes…." He says, after debating for a while, "But think about this: They live in luxury, while we suffer. They are fed, while we starve. Anything they use here, WE create. We 'entertain' them, we clothe them, hell, we even FEED the lucky bastards. The Avoxes SERVE them! And what do they have to do in return?"

"Stay silent." I let it slip, and instead of keeping quiet, I continue. "They can't talk of rebellion. They aren't shown what goes on in the other Districts. The only connection they have with the outside world is the Hunger Games, and even THAT is edited. Is there even any other form of country out there, other than Panem? We may never even know! If they even murmur so much as the word rebellion, what do you think happens? They might disappear in the night, never to see their families again. They may be shot dead, right where they stand. Or, worst of all, they may become Lab Rats. Tested on to bring new mutants to the Hunger Games. They aren't free. Their as cages up as the Districts themselves." I finish, and turn, my back leaning against the rail, my eyes straight forwards, watching fireworks some people were setting off in the distance.

"But," He whispers, "They're happy. And that's a kind of freedom the districts will never have."

"There's no hope of that." I agree.

For the second time today, a tear slides down my cheek.

Tres catches it on his finger, and lifts my chin to face him. And for the first time, I get a good look at him, without fear of staring.

Beautiful doesn't even begin to express him, but it's really the only word that can.

His brown hair falls into his eyes, which are a deep, chocolate brown, with hints of gold. His eyelashes are long, but they make his eyes look even more beautiful, if that makes sense. Freckles dot his nose, his skin pale, a pretty pale, one that makes you wish you had beautiful skin like his. His lips are full and curved slightly downward, in a never ending sigh, just wanting to be kissed.

He's beautiful. There's nothing more to say.

"I'm sorry." Is all he says, before he breaks our gaze and turns away.

"For what?" I ask.

"Everything." His eyes gaze downward, at the gravel we are standing on.

"Don't be. I've had enough sorries in one lifetime." I choke suddenly.

"You don't have to tell me." He whispers, knowing I have something to say.

"But I want to." I say, after taking a deep breath.

"Why me?" He asks, and look at him.

"I need to tell someone. I've kept it in for so long. I don't want Panem knowing anything of my past, because they already own my future. This is the only time I can say anything without fear of it being broadcasted live across the Districts, and hell, who else am I going to tell? There's no chance I'll live anyway.

"I was seven. We were in our house- Mother, Father, Aunt Rose, Uncle Collin, David- my brother- and me. We were celebrating that as well as my Aunt Rose's birthday. We were having a good time, laughing, celebrating... And then the Peacekeepers came.

"It was so scary. The biggest one hit Uncle Collin over the head with his gun, and the woman slapped Aunt Rose across the face. David fought- he was always a fighter- and got a few of them down before he was shot. In the heart.

"I screamed, and clapped my hands over my mouth when the Peacekeepers looked my way. Father, who had just become mayor at the time, stood up, and shouted to stop, but they ignored him, pulling Rose and Collin into the square, their bodies limp. He resorted to trying to help David. But he was fading fast.

"He took Father's hand and whispered: 'keep Cris safe. I love you all.' And then his body went cold. Mother was screaming at them to let her sister go, but they wouldn't stop beating…. They just wouldn't stop…..

"Finally, after Rose and Collin were unconscious, the Peacekeepers raised their weapons. Mother turned me the other direction and held her hands over my ears, and held me, tight, but I still heard the shots, clear as day. I'll never forget the images of my Aunt Rose and Uncle Collin being carried away in body bags, my mother screaming and David's body in the living room, blood pooling around him as Father hugged his son, weeping." The tears are coming harder now.

"You should have seen his expression, Tres," I whisper, "When my name was reaped, and he could do nothing to protect me, like he promised David. His face… God, his face….." I just looked into the distance.

"Later we found out they had helped a couple of teenagers who had escaped from the Capitol. They had housed and fed them, and that was illegal. My aunt and uncle knew of their escape, but helped them anyways. We also found out that they died in vain; the teenagers hadn't even made it past District twelve. They were hunted down in the forest there, the boy killed, and I think the girl was made into an Avox, because I never found out what happened to her. I wanted to kill them. I wanted to kill them all. It's all their fault, Tres. It's their entire fault."

We stand that way for a while, him- the boy I know virtually nothing about, and the one I'll be fighting against in the Arena- holding me, the girl that just spilled her deepest and darkest memory to the boy she knows virtually nothing about.

Could you imagine if we were actually in love?

What a pair.

* * *

**Yes, the teenagers are the Avox girl and the boy she was with that Katniss talks about in THG.**

**No, they aren't in love… yet. Tell me what you think I should do with this little relationship. Right now their strictly friends. Well…. Yeah. Kind of friends.**

**~Maddy**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter eight: Allies

* * *

**

"That's terrible." Tres whispers, and he drops his arms from around me, and I take a step back, a ghost of a smile on my lips.

"But so is the Capitol." I whisper, my voice barely audible over the sound of the roaring wind, which had grown since we first got on the roof.

_Which is why they must fall._

_l::l_

I sleep soundly for the first time since the Reaping. I wake in the morning to Sparkle rapping on my door squeaking: "Hurry up! Training in an hour!"

I sigh and drag the sheets off of me, and stretch my back as I stand. Out of the corner of my eyes I can see my training outfit: A purple tank top and black knee length pants.

After going down to breakfast, we head to the elevator to go to the training level. Niky stops us both, along with Cray.

"Listen." She says, "You stick together. Keep a look out for people you want to ally with, and you go to as many training areas as you can. Got it?" We nod, not able to say much else.

We're shoved into the elevator. Niky hits the little round button marked "T", whispers a good luck, and stands there as the elevator doors slide shut, blocking her from our view.

_l::l_

We're the second group to arrive, after District eleven. I smile.

_Allies._

I look at Tres and motion for him to follow. He does, without question.

We walk up to Antoinette and Kris, who are talking to each other, waiting for the other tributes. As we grow closer, Kris' voice lowers to a whisper, and eventually dies down. Antoinette turns, her face in a scowl, to see what was approaching to give Kris his look of…. Pain? Anger? I can't really tell.

"Hey," I say, and I smile. Antoinette's face turns into a smile, her dimples showing.

"Hello." She replies.

Kris eyes us suspiciously, though, sizing up Tres and me, as if we're going to attack them at any moment.

"Um… I don't know if you already know me, but"- I start, but Antoinette interrupts me.

"Oh, you're Criistal and Tres from District 4. Yeah, we know you. Huh, Kris?" She smiles at Kris, but his gaze doesn't waver.

"Yeah." He murmurs, still giving us a look.

"I was wondering if…. Since we don't have any allies… You might want to join us? I know it's unexpected, and you don't know us, but I figured we could stick together? Better to have someone with you to share supplies and help you when you need it than be alone, right?" I smile, but it fell, since I figured I wasn't being very convincing, and I just came right out and asked her.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid…. _

I'm mentally kicking myself, and am ready to turn around when I notice she's thinking very seriously about this.

"Kris?" She looks at him, and he shrugs, still eyeing us.

"I don't know, do you trust them?" He asks. They act as if we aren't really there, but that was fine. I could wait.

"Well, who can we really trust? I mean, can I really trust you, if we make it to the final two? Or even five? We're all fighting for our lives, Kris. We could use some help." She looks at him, and he sighs.

"Yes Antoinette, but what if they take me, or even you, out within the first five minutes? Or they wait until or guard is down within the first week?" He asks, his voice just a hint louder than it was a minute ago. It slowly softens to a whisper as he says, "I need to go home. You know that."

"Do they have a choice, Kris?" Antoinette whispers. "Do _we _have a choice? I trust them, Kristian. Look into her eyes and tell me she's a sadistic killer."

And he does. I can feel him looking into me, looking into my eyes to try and figure me out.

He looks away after a minute.

"Okay," He whispers, finally giving in.

"Thanks." I say, and sit by Antoinette, patting the ground where Tres should sit, also. He does, but with hesitation. Kris isn't alone. He doesn't seem to trust these two from eleven, either.

"So," Antoinette turns to me, a smile on her face. "You're from District four… does that mean you know how to, like, swim really well and stuff?" She asks, and I nod.

"Well, I do. I'm not the best swimmer, but I've been swimming in the ocean and taking private lessons since I was five. I'm pretty good. What about you, Tres?" I turn to him, and he shrugs.

"Growing up as a fisherman's son, you have no choice. You have to know how to work the ocean, or you're dead."

Antoinette turned her attention from him to me again. "I don't really know how to work tides, because the only real swimming I've done is in the rivers around where we live. Kris is the same." She nods towards Kristian, and he nods, one swift jerk of his head.

"Do you know how to use weapons?" He asks me.

"I'm not sure. My family's bloodline runs from American times, when the wars were, and they knew how to handle weapons pretty well. My father's always said it's in my blood, but the only thing I've ever handled that's been close to a weapon is a kitchen knife." Kris snorts, and Antoinette punches his arm. "I do know how to use medical herbs and which ones are edible, stuff like that."

Antoinette nods. "What about you?" She asks Tres, and he shrugs again.

"Knifes, swords, trident, net, some snares… That's about it." He says, and I roll my eyes.

"Show off." I mutter, and he laughs.

"What about you?" I ask Antoinette, and she ticks everything off on her fingers.

"Herbs, knives, bow and arrow, I'm fast, and I can do camouflage." She smiles, and I stare.

"Wow." Is all I say. She laughs.

"Kris? What about you?" I ask, and he looks at the knives station as he answers:

"Knives, bow and arrow, spear, sword. That's about it." He shrugs.

I suddenly feel very inferior.

_Idiot. _I think, _what gave you any idea you could actually last a day in this damn thing?_

By now, all of the tributes are here, and after the Head Trainer finishes her lecture, we head off to our stations.

I go with Tres to the knife-throwing area, and watch him throw some knives for a few minutes before I start to pick up his pattern. I slowly pick up one of the smaller and lighter knives, bring my arm back, and throw. It nicks the training dummy in the arm.

Not a kill shot, but a deep wound none the less.

_Maybe it is in my blood, after all…_

* * *

**I know Kris' name is…. You know… Kris, in all of the other chapters, but his FULL name is Kristian. Thought I'd throw it in there at times, I think it sounds better. :D**

**I'm here, at the NASCAR races with my dad. Ewwww. I hate his weekends. So I'm stuck without internet!**

**I'll probably be updating at least two chapters today, because I probably won't have internet tomorrow.**

**So review people!**

**~Maddy**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter nine: Training**

* * *

I follow Tres the rest of the morning.

He goes to the sword station, so do I.

He goes to the bow and arrow station, so do I.

He goes to the spear station, so do I.

And it is always the same.

I watch him for a few minutes, watch how the weapon works… and then try it myself.

I am always lethal.

Knife throwing is my best, after a few throws I pick up the hang of it and am throwing with such lethal precision, each shots a kill shot.

My next best, I find out to much surprise, is bows and arrows.

Kris is as pleasantly surprised at my weapons use as I am. He doesn't seem to be doubting our alliance anymore.

After about half the morning is spent on weapons, we decide to try our hands at something else. I lead us over to the plants and herbs station, and practice with those.

The trainer seems to be delighted at my knowledge, so I decide to skip that one and go to camofluage.

That… I'm not so good at.

Antoinette skips over and shows me how to put on a proper camoflauge mask, and giggles after I stomp my foot in frustration and smear some across her face.

"There," I say, "That's my mask. God, this is frustrating."

"Maybe you should leave the camoflauging to me." She laughs.

At lunch, we sit with each other, laughing and talking, as if the Hunger Games don't exist, and in the morning, we won't be shipped out into an Arena to kill each other in a gruesome bloodbath.

But after lunch, reality hits us we wait as they call each district to show the Gamemakers our talents. I sit, anxious, with Antoinette, Kris, and Tres as they call, boys first, one by one.

Finally, Tres is called. He sighs and rises to his feet, gives us a short wave, and walks off.

I wait half an hour before the trainers walk in and call me. I smile at the others and rise to my feet, my stomach flipping over itself as I walk into the Training Center.

_l::l_

The Gamemakers aren't completely drunk by my round, which I'm grateful for. I had heard stories about them, and about how they usually don't see a thing you do, they're too busy paying attention to the roast, or the wine that just entered the room.

But that isn't the case with me. Of course not. They're all staring at me with such intensity, it seems they're looking right through me.

I slowly make my way to the knife-throwing station, and warm up. My first two aren't that good, the second one only nicks the leg.

I decide to have a little fun.

I turn and smile my best smile at the Gamemakers and say:

"I'm just getting warmed up, boys. No need to worry. I'm a little rusty, because I've been relaxing all week at the glorious Capitol." I pray to the Gods that the next knife I throw isn't going to make me look like an idiot, and pick two up.

I back up slowly to the other side of the room. I can see out of the corner of my eyes that the Gamemakers are watching me, and only me. They're even ignoring the roast that just got rolled in.

_That's right, boys. _W_atch the pretty girl with the sharp knives._

I break into a jog, and then into a sprint. Still holding the knives in my hands, I put the one in my right hand in between my teeth. When I'm about half-way to the training dummy, I hold my right arm out, jump into the air, and do a quick front hand-spring, taking my left hand and burying the knife into the dummy.

Kill shot.

I swiftly rotate my torso, and throw the remaining knife at the dummy behind me.

It sinks into his heart.

Kill shot.

I sprint to the bow and arrow station, and grab the set that hangs, ready for me to use.

I grab it and run, slinging both the sheath of arrows and the bow over my shoulders and scaling the twenty foot tree across from me. Once I'm in the tree, I load an arrow into the bow, within a two second span, and shoot.

It lodges itself into the right eye of a third training dummy.

Kill shot.

From fifty feet away.

I silently hop out of the tree and bow slightly, and dismiss myself from the Training Center.

_Thank you, family._

When I reach the fourth floor, Sparkle is there, already dragging me into the dining room for dinner before the elevator doors even close.

"So, how did you do?" She squeaks, and jumps up and down in her seat, clapping her hands excitedly.

Tres shrugs. "I threw some knives, a trident, and a spear or two, and slashed some stuff with a sword. That was pretty much it."

I smile. "I did a front hand spring stabbing into a training dummy, rotated throw into the one behind it, and shot a third with bows and arrows from a twenty foot height from fifty feet away. Into the eye."

They all stare at me as if I was insane.

"Well let's go see your scores!" Sparkle squeaks, breaking the stares and silence, and we head to the viewing room.

I watch as Bryn scores a nine, and Brit scores a ten.

James a ten, and Tanya and un-heard of eleven.

Zak an eight, and Katylyn a nine.

Tres' name comes up on screen, and then his score: a ten.

He pumps a fist into the air, and after a short celebration, we hush each other to see my score…

Eleven.

* * *

**Review :)**

**~Maddy**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter ten: The Arena

* * *

**

I stare at the screen in shock.

Eleven? How the hell did I, the daughter of a mayor, end up with an _eleven?_

_It's in your blood._

And suddenly I realize… This is what Father was talking about. I'm born to do this.

And that just scares me a whole lot more.

_l::l_

I didn't sleep at all last night.

All I did was toss and turn, the thoughts of tomorrow crashing around in my head.

It scares me, walking into my death.

And now, as I'm in the hovercraft, on my way to the Arena with Yanil by my side, I feel sick. I'm not ready for this.

_But you are._

A voice whispers in my head, and I argue back.

_I'm not meant for this. For killing people._

The beast inside rears its head, and looks at me with its blood red eyes.

_It will be fun._

_Killing people?_

_No. Surviving._

This last statement confuses me, and I push my thoughts down, along with the blood-thirsty beast that's within me.

_l::l_

I'm taken down to the chambers to wait to go up. Yanil sits with me, holding my hand, until we have twenty minutes.

I change into my clothes: A green tank-top, with black skinny jeans and knee-high biker-boots. I'm given a jacket, one that will keep in heat and reflect cold, that's also black, and kind of thick, too.

Ten minutes.

Yanil turns me to face her, her hands on my shoulder.

"Listen to me." She says, with such intensity I'm afraid not to.

"Yes?"

"You run, as soon as the gong sounds, and not before. Once it does, you get the hell out of there, you hear me? If you go to the Cornocoupia, you'd better run like hell, and grab the first weapon you see. Grab a backpack, I don't care what size. Anything is better than nothing. You grab weapons, grab a backpack, and _get the hell out of there,_ you hear me?"

I nod, not able to say much else.

Five minutes.

"But what if I can't run in these boots?" I ask, suddenly very aware of the things on my feet. Yanil smiles.

"Don't worry about those. You'll be able to run better than ever. Just run."

I nod, and sit down, suddenly feeling very, very sick.

Two minutes.

I'm placed on the circular platform at the back of the room, and it rises, bringing me into the blinding sunlight.

One minute.

Let the Games begin.

_l::l_

The Arena around me is beautiful, giant jungle. Trees of all shapes and sizes surround the twenty-four platforms, all filled with tributes.

Fifty seconds.

I squint against the sunlight, and try and locate Tres. I see him a couple of platforms to the left of me, and I try and get his attention. When I fail to do so, I look for Antoinette and Kris.

Forty seconds.

I don't see them, so I'm guessing they're on the other side of the Cornucopia, blocked from my view by the fifty-foot horn.

And what's inside that horn amazes me.

Thirty seconds.

Weapons piled at least thirty feet up, along with food and supplies, more than I'd ever seen in my lifetime.

Twenty seconds.

And there, sitting next to a large green backpack, is a sheath of arrows, a bow, and a set of glistening silver knives.

Ten seconds.

I ready myself, as if I'm in a sprint, legs ready to run as soon as the gong sounds.

Eight. Seven. Six. Five.

I adjust my jacket, and pull my hair back. I'm ready.

Three. Two...

One.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Claudius Templesmith's voice booms through the Arena. "Let the 84th Hunger Games _begin!_"

The gong sounds, and I run. My boots hold up surprisingly well, as if I'm wearing tennis shoes. But I don't think about that.

All I think about is that backpack and those weapons in front of me.

I run, and run, until my lungs feel like they are going to give out. But I don't stop until I've reached those supplies.

I grab the knives first, slinging the holster over my shoulder, and then the bow and arrows. Next, I grab the backpack, and I turn to run.

Some of the other tributes are starting to reach the supplies, and I know I have to get out of there. I start to run, but am cut off by a burly boy from district five.

"Hello." He says, and smiles. Then he raises his arm to strike me with the metal bat that had been leaning against the side of the Cornucopia.

Before I realize what I'm doing, I somersault underneath him, ducking his swing, and pulling a knife out in the same, swift movement. I come up behind him, and in yet another movement, stab him in the back.

He cries out in agony, and falls. I pick up the bat as well, and run.

_You can't have too many weapons._

I turn around and pause once I reach the mouth of the jungle, and turn to see Antoinette sprinting in around the same area as me.

I call her name, and she runs in my direction, a smile on her face as she reached me.

"Hey. You seem well stocked." She says, and I look down to see my three weapons and backpack, as opposed to her own small pouch.

"Here," I say, and hand her the bat. "Hold that until we find a place to rest, and then we can figure out what to do from there. Did you see Tres? Or Kris?"

"No," she responds, and starts jogging into the jungle, the bloodbath disappearing from our view. "The last I saw, Kris was fighting with a guy from District eight, but I didn't see Tres."

"Okay, well we'll find them later." I say, and we keep running.

We find a small meadow to rest in, and we make camp, surrounded by trees. I pull out my backpack, and open it, spilling the contents into the soft grass in front of me. Lots of beef, two packs of crackers, a sleeping bag, a jacket, a rain tarp, pain killers, and a big jug of water. There's also a spool of thread and a needle, which I have deemed useless. In Antoinette's bag is a strip of meat, matches, two apples, a pack of crackers, and iodine. We pack everything back into the backpacks, and eat two strips of jerky and a couple crackers each.

After we finish, the cannons start. I count how many there are.

_One, two, three, four…_

_Ten._

Ten deaths.

Ten down, fourteen to go.

I decide to throw my knives at a tree for practice, until we are ready to start moving, and try to locate Tres and Kris. It's still midday when we hear a crashing coming through the bushes near us. I toss Antoinette the bow and arrow and pick up my knives.

Antoinette has the bow loaded, and I have my knives ready, when he comes crashing through the bushes, and collapses before us, unconscious.

* * *

**Review!**

**~Maddy**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter eleven: Rain

* * *

**

I gasp, and Antoinette screams, with her hand over her mouth to cover the sound, horrified, as Kris collapses in front of us, completely unconscious. I rush forward, with Antoinette right behind, and we turn him over, terrified.

He's cut, not deep, but since he hadn't done anything to help it, it's bled out without stopping.

I run back to my pack, grabbing the spare jacket - which didn't look like it would help me or Antoinette keep warm at all - and cut the sleeve. I then grab the needle and thread, and pain killers and I run back to Antoinette.

I gently move her out of the way, and lift his shirt.

The gash isn't deep, and easily healable. It looks like it was inflicted by a sword, and I frown.

I uncoil the string and brake it off with my teeth, stringing it through the needle. Very gently, I sew up the two-foot gash on Kris' abdomen, and cut that, as well.

"Now we wait for him to wake up." I whisper.

_If he does wake up, at all._

_l::l_

Antoinette and I move Kris into the sleeping bag, and move him into a bush closest to our supplies. We make sure to hide him well, to tuck the sleeping bag over his head, and put some leaves and branches over him, as extra camouflage. You can barely tell he's there.

After twenty minutes, I convince Antoinette that the best thing for Kris is for her to leave him, as to not draw attention to him, but even when we are sitting back with our supplies, she still sneaks looks over her shoulder every couple of minutes.

"You like him." It isn't a question, but a statement. I smile, but only slightly, because the moment definitely does not call for happiness.

"Since we were eleven." She responds, also holding a slight smile to her lips.

"What happened?" I ask.

"School." She says, "He was the only one with pale white skin and blonde hair, and I'm the smallest. Somehow we managed to find each other, and become close friends.

"But as soon as we hit twelve, I started seeing him as something more. Something romantic. I never told him, I still haven't… But when he was reaped after me….. It killed me inside, to know one, or both, of us weren't coming back. It still does.

"I don't want him to die, Criistal." She whispers, "I'd rather kill myself before that happens."

A moan escapes the bush behind us, and before I can move, Antoinette is there, sitting Kristian up and holding him as tight as possible without hurting him. I pull out the pain killers and stride over to where they were.

"Here," I say, "This will help."

He takes the pain killers immediately, and then looks at me.

"Thank you." He whispers, and then looks at Antoinette. He smiles- it's the first time I've seen him do so- and he hugs her, as light as possible without hurting himself.

Antoinette whispers back, "Thank God you're okay…. I wouldn't be able to live without you."

"Me either." He whispers, and then he does the one thing I hadn't expected to see in this Arena….

He kisses her.

And she kisses back.

Which makes things hella awkward for me.

_l::l_

The anthem plays in the darkening sky, and we all look up, anxious to see who died today.

The first face that comes up is the girl's face from five, along with the boy, who I killed. Next is the girl from six, both from seven, the boy from eight, the girl from nine, the boy from ten, and both from twelve.

So that leaves all tributes up to five, and then the boy from six, the girl from eight, the boy from nine, and the girl from ten.

A pretty eventful day for the Capitol, huh?

It's raining tonight, hard, so we set up the rain tarp and lay underneath it. Antoinette and Kris got the sleeping bag first, so I get first watch.

Through the sound of the rain, I hear twigs snap.

I wake Antoinette, who jumps on alert, and loads the bow and arrow without question.

I pick up five of my best knives, and put one in each hand and three in the holder that I fastened around my waist just as Zak, the district three boy, comes through the bushes smiling with his sword raised.

"Ladies." He smirks, and starts into the clearing.

"Where are your Career buddies?" I ask him, and he smirks, again.

"I decided to do a little hunting on my own." He takes a step closer, "And look what I've found, a couple of mice." Antoinette's eyes narrow, and she raises the bow back.

"You hurt him, didn't you?" Her voice is low, and terrible.

"He was in our territory. He was an easy target. So, I killed him." He shrugs, and this time it's my turn to smirk.

_He thinks Kristian's dead._

"It's too bad we're going to have to kill you, too." I say, and he breaks into a run.

Antoinette knows what to do- we planned in advance- so she stays back and covers the supplies and a wounded Kristian while I take off for the assailant. If I am to be hurt or killed, she'll kill the attacker before he can get to Kris or the supplies.

I meet Zak halfway, and as he raises his sword to strike, I use the move I did in the Training center, a front hand-spring. But this time, instead of trying to stab him in the chest, (He has a weapon, that would be just stupid.) I don't push off with my hand as I would. Instead, I turn what he would think to be a front hand-spring into a fancy somersault, slide on my back until I'm behind him, take the knife in my right hand, and sink it into his left leg.

I hear him cry out in pain, and I roll sideways to my left, rise to my feet, and jab him above his shoulders, just under the base of his skull.

He falls to the floor, and I take the remaining knife in my left hand and stab it into his upper back.

I hear the cannon, and know he's dead.

_One career down, five to go._

I pull both knives out of his body and drag him a good fifty feet away before the hovercraft picks him up. I make my way back to Antoinette, who is trying to calm down a frantic Kris.

"You could have been _killed! _He's a _career!_" He hisses as Antoinette shushes him and tries to lay him back down.

"You didn't see Criistal. The moves she pulled, it was like she was the career. Besides, Kris, I was back here, protecting you. I literally didn't have to do jack." She looks at me. "Where did you learn those moves? I thought you said you'd never picked up a weapon before, and then I see you pull _that_ shit out of your ass? What the hell? Where have you been?"

"I don't know…. I really don't. Before I know what's happening, my body takes over and I'm somersaulting and front hand-springing with a couple of knives aimed at someone's heart. I really don't know. Believe me. It scares the hell out of me."

I sit back down, and shield myself from the falling rain until the sun rises.

* * *

**Review(:**

**~Maddy**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter twelve: Darts

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**

The sun slowly rises over the artificial mountains the Gamemakers put into the Arena, casting an orange tint across the jungle, creating colorful patches in the meadow we're laying in. Kris is up, with Antoinette still asleep, leaning on him as he stares into the distance, looking at nothing in particular.

"Morning." I whisper, and he turns, his eyes red, his smile a ghost on his lips, faltering after a few seconds.

"Good morning." He says, and I can hear his voice waver.

We sit like that for a while, in silence, staring into the trees before we hear a scream, and then a cannon fire, and decide that we'd better move. Fast. Kris gently shakes Antoinette and she bolts awake, the bow already loaded and in her arms before she realizes we aren't in any trouble.

She slowly lowers the bow and looks at us both before saying: "If we're not under attack, why the hell did you wake me up?"

"We need to move. Careers are close."

"Stupid Careers. I'll kill them all if they think they can mess with my sleep…." She mumbles under her breath as she picks up her supplies, and we head out.

_l::l_

By midday we've made it through the jungle and have found a small cave, just outside the edges of the trees. We put our supplies in it and roll a rock in front of the entryway, leaving just enough room to squeeze through, and cover the hole with vines. We then sit and wait, until our stomachs are growling, and we eat more of the meat and crackers. We finish up the rest of the water, and realize we must go find more.

We trudge through the underbrush, swatting at mosquitoes the size of cherries as they swarmed at our necks, trying to suck us dry. I wish I had some bug spray.

We reach a stream and the mosquitoes leave us be, seeming to hate the water.

_One less thing we have to worry about killing us._

Antoinette fills the water container, and I dip my arms into the water, relieved at how cool it is. I hadn't realized how hot the rainforest was until now. I slowly pull off my boots and sweater, and slip into the cool water. It's only waist-deep, but it doesn't matter. It's nice on my skin.

Antoinette laughs, and I turn around and splash her in the face. She jumps, feels how nice the water is, and smiles before slipping off her own boots and getting into the water. We don't forget we're still in danger, no matter where we go, or what we do, so we keep our weapons right next to us, where we can grab them if we need to do it fast. Kris stays out of the water, holding his sword he brought with him, his muscles tense, ready to swing.

I flip my legs up, and float lazily on my back, my hands behind my head.

"This is nice." I say, and Antoinette sighs.

"Yeah, it's a nice break." She dips her head back, and resurfaces, forcing me to lose my balance, and go under myself. I resurface to find her laughing, tears sliding down her cheeks.

"Oh my god! Did you see that!" She turns to Kristian, who merely smiles. She splashes him.

"Babe! Come _on!_ Lighten uuuup!" She whines, and I roll my eyes.

"You won't be saying that when Tanya comes running out of those bushes with a machete." He turns, as if he knew she's going to spring, and when she doesn't, he turns back around.

"You worry too much." Antoinette says, and climbs out of the river. "Give me a hug." She smiles.

"Hell no! Get away from me!" He slides to the side as she grabs his arms, and wraps her own around him, getting him soaked. "Damn." He murmurs, and me and Antoinette laugh.

We get back to the cave without disturbance, now completely dry due to the warm jungle weather. We're still a good twenty feet from the cave, when we hear a soft snapping noise, and stop, hiding behind a bush.

Antoinette, being the smallest and harder to spot, peeks through the bushes, and draws back almost immediately. She holds up eight fingers, and we understand it as being the girl from eight. I dare to peek my head out of the bushes, silently.

She's silent, and fast, that's for sure. She's running in circles, not seeming to notice the opening of our cave, picking at berries and different kinds of leaves and roots. I watch, curious. She mashes all of the roots, berries and leaves up until they're completely crushed, and then she pulls out a dart. It's a small thing, about the size of my ring finger, with a sharp, pointed end. Where she got a dart is beyond me. Probably from the Cornucopia.

She loads about five of these before pulling out a bamboo stick, hollowed out on the inside to fit the dart in. She loads all five, and smiles wickedly. I draw my knife, and look at Antoinette, who nods, and loads her bow.

_She's caught._

Before she can react, I pull my arm back, and the knife sinks into her leg. She yelps, and stumbles back, her head hitting a rock behind her. Antoinette releases an arrow, and it hits dead in the skull, right between her eyes. Her cannon sounds.

_So she was punished._

I rise from the bushes and approach her body, a sinking feeling hitting me in my chest.

_What have I done?_

This girl…. No older than sixteen, will never see the light of day again. Will never see her family, her friends, her home. What if she had a younger sister at home? Or a brother? A boyfriend? I know for certain she had parents, who are now grieving over the loss of their daughter. All because of me.

_But she would have killed you._ A_nd we can't have you killed, right?_

We quickly grab the dart gun and rush into the cave, closing the vines behind us to conceal our hideaway. Not five minutes later, we hear footsteps, followed by voices.

"Damn it! I wanted to finish off Darts!" A high voice chimes, and I know it's Tanya.

"Think of it this way, Tan. One less to kill, right? One step closer to victory? Just you and me, baby, you and me. Final two." I know this is James, by the way he calls Tanya "Baby". No one else in their right mind would call _that_ "Baby".

"But Jaaaaaames!" Tanya whines, "What about the others? Aren't we supposed to be getting back to them?" She lowers her voice, so it's _supposed _to be sexy. I just gag. "Or do you want to take a little time off?"

I can hear James pushing her off, and I can just see his eyes rolling. "Not now, Tanya. We have to get back. Katylyn and Brit are probably gonna be hunting soon, and we can't trust Bryn alone with the supplies." I hear him shuffling off, and I hear Tanya cross her arms, huff frustratedly, and stomp her foot before sulking behind him.

_Katylyn and Brit will be hunting soon…_ His words echo in my head.

_I don't think he means for squirrels….._

* * *

**Review! :)**

**~Maddy**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen: The Hunted

* * *

**

I crawl to the back of the cave, and sit next to Antoinette, pulling my jacket tighter on my shoulders, and adding the torn-up jacket I had ripped to bandage Kristian with to add some warmth. Antoinette, meanwhile, has curled up with Kris, and is using him as a heat source.

"What did you hear?" Antoinette asks, "I didn't hear all of it."

"We're being hunted." I whisper, and Antoinette groans, and I can see Kris stiffen out of the corner of my eyes.

"Who?" Kris asks. I tell him, and he sighs, his forehead wrinkling in concentration.

"We can take the bitches." Antoinette pulls her bow closer. Her face has hardened, giving her a terrifying look of determination.

"Yeah, but we still shouldn't go looking for a fight." I say, and I too pull my weapon closer. I pull a knife out of the holster, and run it across a stone, sharpening the blade, and moving on to the next one.

_God, help us._

The sun is low in the sky, and the air is chilling when we hear a rustling in the bushes outside the cave. I grab my knives and hop to my feet silently, moving to the opening and peering through the vines. I let out a soft squeal and stick my arm out quickly, and pull the figure standing outside in, quickly.

"Tres!" I squeak softly, and jump onto him in a hug. "Where were you? I thought you _died_!" Antoinette and Kris had come from the back of the cave by now, and were looking at us, confused.

"I was out on the other side of the jungle, away from the Careers. They found me eventually, though. The girl…. Tanya. She's a savage. I stumbled on her killing off the tribute from five… the girl?

"She pinned the girl. Got on top of her and laughed as she traced patterns into her face with a pocketknife. I wanted to throw up. And she just laughed as the girl screamed bloody murder.

"I was about to come out of the bushes when Tanya got off of her, and laughed as the helicopter picked the girl up. I knew she was dead. I should have helped her… she was helpless. I should have helped her…

"Then she looked up. She saw me, and her eyes narrowed. She stalked towards me, and I ran. I worked my way through the forest, as far away from her as possible until I got here." He slumps to the floor, and he suddenly looks aged, worn out more than I'd ever seen him before, and I fell to my knees next to him and held him, and he sighed, letting his head fall onto my shoulder.

"We aren't leaving the cave tonight." I said, more to myself than anyone else. "No matter what. I'm not letting them catch us."

Kristian pulled Antoinette closer, and she buried her face into his chest, as if trying to disappear from the world.

_I wish I could disappear._

Tonight, the stars are bright and happy, shining in the night with freedom, which is terrible for us. That means that the night is bright, and you are able to see as if it were mid-day… which meant Katylyn and Brit would be able to see much better than if there were clouds. I know the Gamemakers did this to bring more danger to the game, and try and bring us closer to death.

We don't move from the cave, sitting as still as possible and only moving when needed. Our supplies are sprawled out in front of us, so we don't have to move to get to them, we will only have to reach our arms out and they're there. Our weapons are in our laps, ready to be used if necessary.

It's around midnight when the anthem plays.

We don't need to move to see through the vines, and though it's sketchy, we can make out the faces of Zak, the district six boy, and Darts.

So that leaves Bryn, Brit, James, Tanya, Katylyn, Tres, me, the boy from nine, the girl from ten, Antoinette, and Kris.

We decide to plan while we're in the cave, without anything to do. We talk in hushed voices, pausing every time a twig snaps, or leaves rustle in the wind.

"What are we gonna do in the morning?" Antoinette asks, and we all think.

"Let's hunt." Tres grins, and I look at him.

"How can we hunt, if we're the hunted?" I ask, and his smile grows. Kris is the one to answer, however, with:

"We go from being the hunt_ed,_ to the hunt_ers._"

We plan throughout the night, only stopping to sleep.

_l::l_

The morning comes swiftly, and we wake, setting our plan into action immediately. Antoinette gives us one last smile as she grabs her bow and leaves with Kris, going in the opposite direction of Tres and I. We then move to the river we found the other day, and I climb one of the trees, and Tres climbs the one across from it. From our view from the trees, we can see Antoinette and Kris enter the meadow we had camped at the first day.

And then we scream. Antoinette and I both, our voices rising to unbelievable heights, in two different directions, on two different sides of the jungle.

We realized last night that a pair of us might be outnumbered, but what we were hoping for- based on the comment James made yesterday outside of the cave- was that one of them would stay with the supplies, making it a fair fight. But we realized there was still a chance they wouldn't.

I drowned out my thoughts as I heard a rustling in the bushes, and when I looked across the jungle, I saw Bryn and Brit cutting through the brush, making their way to the empty meadow with Antoinette and Kris hiding in the tree-tops.

As if on cue, James and Tanya push through the bushes, facing the stream, James with a spear and Tanya with knives like mine. I look at Tres, and he holds two fingers up, and we wait, silent.

"Where are they?" James asks, and he frowns.

"I don't know, but I heard them coming from here!" Tanya's voice was high and nasily, making me cringe.

Tres smiles, and lowers his hand, gripping the metal bat he's holding, and he tightens the pouch on his hip, which holds the five darts that were loaded yesterday by the district five girl.

James turns, facing away from the trees, and Tres springs down, swinging the bat at his head before James can turn around. Tanya growls, and lunges, but not before I jump out of the tree and onto her back, pulling her head back by her hair and throwing her to the floor.

I hear the sickening _crack_ of the metal bat hitting James' head, and I know he's out cold, and when I hear the cannon fire, I know Tres has jammed one of the darts into his leg.

Tanya screams and looks at her district partner's limp body being dragged away by Tres, and She looks at me, a glare on her usually flawless face.

"You _BITCH!_" She screams, and spits on my face.

I see red.

"Really? Because you haven't seen _anything_ yet, sweetie." I smile wickedly, and pull out one of my knives.

I slowly trace around her face, drawing different patterns- almost like tattoos- all over. Blood seeps out of the slits, leaving her face a deep, blood red. She just looks at me, her face ridden with anger as I smile.

"Do you like it? I call it _A Tribute to a Tribute: In Memory of District Five._" And she understands immediately. I plunge the knife into her chest, her chest heaving, blood pouring out of her wound and mouth.

I stand, and pull the knife out of her body, and turn my back on the psycho from District two as she chokes on her blood, and her cannon sounds.

Soon after that I hear another cannon sound, and my stomach drops.

I grab Tres' arm and we run, with our weapons, to the meadow.

* * *

**This is all that I will put up before tomorrow…. Or, if not tomorrow, then Friday! :)**

**Review! :)**

**~Maddy**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter fourteen: The Final Seven**

* * *

I run with Tres, not stopping until we reach the clearing, and I fall to my knees. Not out of sadness, of relief. Antoinette and Kristian are fine, Antoinette by a tree nursing a not-very-badly cut arm, and Kris pulling his sword out of Bryn, is face flushed, his breathing shallow and heavy. I rise to my feet, and jog to where Antoinette is.

"Are you okay? What happened?" I ask, and she smiles.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Kris and Bryn went at it, they both had swords, and Brit and I fought it out. She had a trident. I shot arrows at her and dodged, and she lunged at me a few times, and kinda got me here-" She pulls her hand off of her arm to reveal a shallow wound- "But after Bryn died, she ran like the little bitch she is. What about you?"

I tell her what happened, and her smile grows dark, and sadistic.

"Four Careers down, two to go."

We're on our way back to camp when we hear the cannon sound.

My heart drops.

_Who died?_

We make it back to the cave, and I sit in the corner of the cave, my knees hugged to my chin, facing the entrance, my knives in my lap.

It's not long before the anthem plays.

I look anxiously to the sky, and see Bryn, James, Tanya…. And the girl from ten.

I start to cry.

The young thirteen year old from district ten is gone….

I cry for her.

I cry for me.

I cry for Tres.

I cry for Antoinette.

I cry for Kris.

I cry for everyone.

I cry for everyone who has ever had their lives ruined by the Capitol, or anyone afilliated with the bastards.

Damn them all to the deepest parts of Hell.

I am consumed by white-hot rage, and though I see nothing, I see everything.

I see the Head Gamemakers' death.

I see the President's death.

I see all Peacekeepers' deaths.

I see _my_ death.

I know what will happen.

And I'm ready.

* * *

**I know that it's SUPER short, but I felt it was right to stop there for some reason.**

**So review! :)**

**~Maddy**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter fifteen: Tears

* * *

**

Morning comes, and I rise, still gripping my knives as if they're going to disappear. Kris and Antoinette slowly wake up, and Tres right behind. We sit in silence for a bit, me really wishing I had a toothbrush right now, before the trumpets blare.

"Attention tributes!" Claudius Templesmith's voice rings through the Arena. "There will be a feast held at the Cornucopia today, at noon. Exactly. It is mandatory. Tributes, I suggest you go. Don't wait until it's too late to find out what will happen." And just like that, the trumpets blare, and his voice is gone.

Instead of being supply-less, like before, we have everything on our backs, not leaving anything behind. We trudge through the underbrush, the humidity becoming too much to bear, the boys shirtless and Antoinette and I sporting knife-made tank tops.

We reach the corner of the jungle, and we are hit with a cool breeze, and in front of us is the Cornucopia. We jog to it, seeing food. Food. Food. More food then we've seen in a long time, that's for damn sure.

It's too late when we hear the snap, and when the spear lands in Tres' side, we know it's them, and we need to act fast. I pull out my best knives and turn, Antoinette already with her bow and Kris with his sword, ready.

Katylyn and Brit stroll out of the bushes, Katylyn already with another spear, and Brit with her trident, smiling wickedly.

"Kris," I call to him, "Help Tres, put pressure on the wound, and use this" – I toss him the torn jacket I'm holding- "To keep the blood from bleeding out. NOW!" He does, without any complaints, which I'm grateful for.

Katylyn charges first, running at me, and I flip backwards, running up the side of one of the trees and climbing into a branch high above her nimbly.

Katylyn can't climb the tree with her spear, and she's not as well suited to hand-to-hand combat as I am, so she stays underneath me, stalking around the tree like a tiger.

From where I sit, I see Antoinette, who has also climbed a tree, shooting arrows at Brit. She dodges each one, and is approaching her tree fast. Her arrows are dwindling. She needs more.

I search frantically for more arrows, but see none, so I plan out what I must do in my head, and I smile.

"Hey," I call, and Katylyn looks up immediately. "What's your deal? How did you even make it here? I mean, I can throw knives better than you can throw a spear."

"Wanna bet, bitch?" She calls up the tree, and I nod, curling my finger twice in my direction, gesturing for her to come closer, and she does, about half a step. This was too easy.

"Throw it. Hit me. I _dare_ you." I smile, and she throws her spear, her anger blurring her visionas I neatly reach my hands up, grab the branch above me, and swing. I land on the branch above me, and I laugh as Katylyn's spear flies underneath me, landing in the jungle somewhere.

"Nice. Now watch me." I say, and leap down.

I land in front of her, and she squeaks, jumping back.

"Hmmm…. Not very tough without a weapon, huh?" I ask, and I throw. The knife embeds itself right above her heart, not killing her, but it will soon. I decide to give her a slow death, considering what she probably did to so many other people. I lean in, and draw her close.

"Who. hit. Tres?" I ask, very low, and very menacing. She squeaks again, but it comes out more of a choke, since her blood's rising up her throat and out of her mouth.

"M-m-me. Ha-ha." She smiles, her lips and teeth bloodstained. She coughs, and blood falls down her chin.

I shake her body. Her head bobs back and forth, and she just laughs, more blood falling down her chin, turning it an even more striking red.

She says something un-intelligible, and with one last feeble attempt, runs her index finger across her bottom lip, and gently strokes it down my cheek, leaving a scarlet-red line down the side of my face.

"Just a l-l-little something t-t-to remember me b-b-by." She sighs, and smiles as her eyes close, and she disappears from the Earth. I drop her and turn, as her cannon fires. Antoinette is weaponless, and has resorted to climbing just out of Brit's reach. I run, picking up the stray arrows and jabbing one into Brit's leg as I reach the tree they're at.

She sucks in a breath, and I dodge a swipe with her trident, and scale the tree as she bends down to pick the arrow out of her ankle.

I toss up the arrows to Antoinette, and she catches them, and loads them quickly. Before I see what she's doing, she's sent an arrow through the air, and Brit's cannon sounds.

I run back to Tres and Kris.

I lift his shirt to find the spear completely embedded into his side. There's no way to retrieve it, and it's not like he can live life with a spear sticking out of his abdomen.

I start to cry.

Tres smiles, weakly, and takes my hand in his.

"Don't worry, Criistal. I'm fine. I am. I'm leaving you now, for a better place. Without censorship, or silence. A place where you can speak your mind, and not fear for your life. Where you are _heard. _Where you are _appreciated._ There is no war. There is only peace. Peace, and harmony. Peace, and love. Peace, and no rebellion. Why should there be, when there's nothing to rebel against? Understand that, and be happy. Happy for me. Happy for our district. Happy for my future." He smiles, and his eyes flutter closed, and I choke suddenly.

But Tres isn't there to hold me this time.

He's gone.

* * *

**Oh my Lord. That was hard to write...**

**Review.**

**~Maddy**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter sixteen: Two Deaths and a Win

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**

That night, we watch the sky, waiting for the faces to appear. It shows Katelyn, Brit, and Tres, his face cold, dead, white… peaceful. I smile sadly as his face disappears from view forever.

He doesn't need to deal with death anymore…. He's safe.

As opposed to Antoinette, Kristian and I.

_But that can all change…_

The Capitol controls us all. They control every movement we make, from the blink of our eyes to the words that escape us. But the one thing they cannot take away from us, are our thoughts. They think they control us, the districts… even the sick, twisted Games we play in.

But every Game has a Cheat Code.

I step out of the cave after I know Antoinette and Kris are fast asleep, look up at the sky, and smile.

_l::l_

Claudius Templesmith's voice rings through the Arena in the morning, causing Antoinette and Kris to bolt upright, rubbing their eyes and reaching for their weapons. I'm already awake, staring at the cave wall.

"Attention tributes!" His voice says, over-exuberantly, "We have but _four _tributes left in this Arena, but only one can come out alive! We realize the tributes are on different ends of the Arena, so to bring you together, there will be one last feast. To make sure you all attend, a special twist has been added to the Games, one that will be revealed at the feast, so attend and see what it is!" his voice cuts off, and the Arena falls silent. I smile.

We set off to the Cornucopia, our feet tangled in vines and undergrowth as we swat at more mosquitoes and other flying bugs. We reach the edge of the jungle and make our way across the clearing to the Cornucopia, Kris and Antoinette with their weapons raised.

I didn't bother.

We see District 9 on the other side of the clearing, coming out of the other side of the jungle. He draws closer, sees us approaching, and becomes defensive. He moves like a cat, his sword raised, his body bent over and his feet crawling one over the other, one step at a time. His eyes ruin his terrifying stature, however hard he tries to hide it.

His eyes show a boy, a small boy, no younger than sixteen, who has seen too much.

They show a kind, generous child, who would help anyone who needed it.

They show a prisoner, who has been wrongly accused of a crime he did not commit.

They show a boy who has been through so many hardships.

Who has been pushed to murder.

He stops about ten paces away from us, and stands still, his sword shaking slightly.

The trumpets blare, and we turn to the Cornucopia.

"Welcome tributes," It is not Claudius who announces this, but President Summer. "To the second and final feast of the 84th Hunger Games. As you heard before, there will be a twist in this year's Games, and as promised, we will tell you. But first, eat. Take the supplies you need. We will tell you shortly. Enjoy." Her voice cuts off, and we turn, facing each other.

"Hello." I say softly to District 9, "I'm Criistal. May I ask what your name is?" I smile, but he doesn't drop his defense. I don't blame him. I wouldn't either, if the person sworn to kill me started talking to me.

"You want to know my name?" He asks, his eyebrows raised.

"Yes. I do." I say, and I shrug. "Why not?"

"What are you _doing_?" Antoinette whispers frantically, "Just kill him and get it over with!"

"No." I say, and her eyes widen. I turn back to the boy. "So?" I ask, my hands on my hips, one eyebrow raised, "Are you gonna tell me or what?"

"Um… My name's Ryan." He lowers his sword a fraction of an inch, and I smile.

"That's a nice name. This here's Antoinette, and that's Kris." I nod to the two behind me, and I hear and audible _smack_ from Kris hitting his hand onto his head. I drop my knives onto the ground.

"See? I'm weaponless. I want to talk, eat, just like Summer said. I'm so starved right now, it's not even funny. I feel as if I'm gonna die from malnutrition. Want to eat with me?" I hold my hands up in surrender, and start to move toward the Cornucopia. I turn, and see Antoinette gaping, wide-eyed, and Kristian just shaking his head in utter disbelief. Ryan doesn't lower his weapon completely, but follows me, his eyes shining hungrily at the thought of food.

I stroll to the table in front of me, and search for the thing I'm looking for. I smile when I find a small berry, and hold it in my hand.

"Come on, eat. Do you want to search me? I'm weaponless, and I swear I won't let my friends touch you."

He shrugs, mumbles "What the hell, what do I have to lose?" and climbs the steps of the Cornucopia, picks up an apple, and takes a bite.

Antoinette and Kristian ascend the stairs, and each pick up a piece of food. I stride over to where they stand in two steps, and swat the food out of their hands, just as Ryan collapses to the floor, and his cannon sounds.

They stare at the food lying on the ground in complete and utter shock.

"You mean-"

"We almost-"

"But he-"

"And we-"

Antoinette and Kristian stutter shocked, looking from each other, to me, to the food, to Ryan, slowly putting everything together.

"But how did you-"

I smile, and cut Antoinette off.

"I cut a deal with the President."

"What are you talking about?" Antoinette asks.

"I love my parents, and the rest of my family, very, very much. And I love you guys, too, even though I don't know you as well as I would ever like to. They know what I've done, and I pray they are happy that I have chosen it." I link their hands together, take two steps back, and spread my arms wide, fanning across them and the Arena.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," I "announce", my voice rising, "I would like to congratulate Antoinette and Kristian, of District eleven, this year's winners, of the 84th Hunger Games." I beam, and Antoinette stands there, shocked, along with Kris, who is gaping.

"But… you. And… us?" Antoinette whispers, "There can't be two winners…"

"Congratulations." I smile yet again, raise the nightlock to my lips, and swallow.

* * *

**Review!**

**~Maddy**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter seventeen: Ghosts and Memorials

* * *

**

People say when you die, you see a light.

Some say you're washed in a feeling of ice.

Others, only blackness.

No one is right.

There's no pain as I close my eyes, and open them to see Antoinette run from Kristian's arms to my side, dropping to her knees and bending over me. Tears fall down her cheeks, staining her skin, as Kris appears behind her and helps her to her feet. I smile, and mouth the words I wish to say, hoping they can hear me: "Don't cry. I love you. Please don't cry. Please, please don't cry. I'll be with you, forever."

I hear my voice, and I suddenly realize I'm not looking UP at them, like I would be if I were laying down, but DOWN on them, and when I look down, I realize I am standing, looking at Antoinette and Kris, and when I move a few feet to the right, I can see my body.

I'm a…. ghost?

Oh, dear.

This is going to be more complicated than I thought.

Antoinette sobs, and Kris holds her, her hair falling around her face, blood and dirt clumping it together. She looks so small and weak, compared to before, when she was confident and strong. She moves my body in a lying position, crossing my arms over my chest, pushing my now white-blonde hair out of my face. I recognize the "memorial" from the 74th Games, when Rue had died, and Katniss had given her a burial. Since I was the mayor's daughter, I was one of the few people who were able to see that tape. She puts flowers in my hair, and takes off her district token, a woven necklace with a small flower on the front, and places it on my head as a headband.

I look like a sleeping angel, my face soft and smiling, as if nothing in the world could ever harm me.

The trumpets blare, and Claudius Templesmith's voice comes over the speakers.

"Congratulations, Antoinette and Kris, the winners of the 84th Hunger Games!" The hovercraft drops onto the grass beside them, and the Capitol workers pry Antoinette from my body, Kris helping keep her back, afraid of what they might do if she fought back. Antoinette struggles to free herself, before finally collapsing, Kris being the only thing holding her up as they head to the hovercraft.

I follow, and break into a run, chasing after them, and barely reaching the opening of the hovercraft's doors when they start to shut. I keep running, ready for the impact of slamming into the side of the hovercraft.

A cold feeling rushes through my body, as if I have been dumped in ice water, and I'm suddenly on the other side of the door, facing an un-conscious Antoinette and Kris, Capitol workers over them, fixing torn skin, bruised faces and injured limbs. I look out the window, feeling I shouldn't look at my friends lying on the operating tables.

_l::l_

An hour later, Antoinette and Kris are woken up, and taken to the dining area of the ship, Avoxes bringing food to them, their mentors and escort congratulating them, drinking one glass of wine after the next, celebrating the win.

"How?" Is all that Antoinette asks.

"What's that, dear?" Their escort, I believe her name is "Millie" asks.

"How the _hell_ did we both win, God damn it! I want answers, NOW!" Antoinette throws her glass at the wall, which I happen to be in front of. It whirls through my head, and I turn as it flies through my skull and hits the wall behind me. When I turn around, her head is in her hands.

"I want to know why we lived, and she didn't." She says, softer.

Millie just looks shocked for a minute, and, not taking her eyes off Antoinette, downs the rest of her wine in one gulp. The mentors, on the other hand, understand her anger, and are more accepting than Millie.

"Like she said before," Kristina, the female mentor, explains, "She struck a deal with the President."

"What the hell does that _mean?_" Kris asks, his voice not rising, but dropping, making him sound even more menacing than Antoinette, when she was throwing things.

"Do you want to watch the footage?" Patrick, the male mentor, asks, leaning forward in his chair. I move behind him, and place my hand on the back of his chair. Antoinette and Kris nod their heads, and he stands.

"Let's go, then." He stands, and moves through me, his body sending warmth through me instead of cold.

We move to the viewing room, and everyone else sits on the couches across from the screen, while I stand behind Antoinette, invisible to them all.

_l::l_

I stepped out of the cave, and the cameras panned in on my face, my smile spreading, my head tilted back, staring at the sky.

"Hello, President Summer." I whispered. "I know that you're watching this, and I know that you can hear every… word… I'm… saying. I have something to say, Ms. President, and I'm just _sure _you want to hear it."

A small silver parachute fell in front of me, in a box about the size of a large book in front of me.

I opened the box, and pulled out a small phone. It vibrated, and my eyebrows raised as I flipped it open.

"Hello?" I asked, my voice still low.

On the screen, the President's face appeared in the right-hand corner.

"Hello, Criistal." Her mouth formed into a wide grin, her sharpened teeth giving her the illusion of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, the same grin I saw in my dream.

"Oh, hey. What's going on on your end of Panem?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

She laughed, her laugh wispy and hollow, hardly a laugh at all. Her forced smile stayed, but you could tell she was trying hard to keep it that way.

"Nothing. Watching you kids."

"Well, I have a little proposition for you." I said, and she becomes intrigued.

"Really now? And what would that be?"

"Antoinette and Kris walk out of this alive," I said, and I paused, letting her think this over. I heard her snort on the other end of the phone, and I continued.

"And I kill myself." Now it's silent on the other end, and Summer thought this over, her face in deep concentration, before she smiles.

"May I ask why?"

"They're in love. They love each other more than anything in the world. They would kill to keep each other alive… They'd even kill _themselves._ They don't deserve this. They're good people. They deserve to win. The both of them." I started crying, madly wiping the tears away, turning a few times back to the cave.

"I think I'll take you up on your offer, Ms. Smith. What, exactly, do you need?" She asked.

"A feast of poisonous food, and a bucket of nightlock berries." I said, and I hung up.

_l::l_

Patrick turns off the television.

Antoinette starts crying, tears streaming down her face, Kris pulling her close, and wrapping his arms around her. She buries her face in his chest, and continues to cry.

A tear slides down my cheek, falls off the end of my chin, and disappears before it hits the floor.

* * *

**This is kind of an informational chapter, to tell you how Antoinette and Kris won together.**

**Review! :)**

**~Maddy**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter nineteen: The End

* * *

**

It's a two and a half day journey to the Capitol- much longer than when we were shipped out- because they only use the faster hovercrafts for emergencies.

Or, of course, the Games.

As we fly, I occasionally look out the window, staring at the ground whizzing by below us.

I found out that this year's Games took place North of Panem, in some place formerly known as, I believe, "Montana". I watch as the snowy ground forms into trees, and then fields, and the occasional lake.

I drift away from the window, glide down the long hallway, and walk through the door to Antoinette's room.

She's lying on her bed, her knees curled up to her chin, tears streaming down her face. I want to cry, to sit down on the bed and hold her, tell her it's okay, that I'm okay, but I can't.

Damn the Capitol. Damn them to Hell.

_l::l_

We make it to the Capitol, Antoinette's state not changed since I last saw her in her room. She hadn't left her room the entire ride back, and she had barely eaten a thing.

Cameras flash from all different angles, Antoinette and Kris not showing much emotion as they made their way through the crowd.

"Antoinette! Can you tell us how you feel about winning the 84th! Are you happy you lived!" One news reporter pushes his way through the others, and holds his microphone up to Antoinette, and the crowd falls silent, cameras watching her from all angles, waiting for her answer.

"Well," She says, looking the reporter in the eye with an icy stare, "I'm personally upset that I won. Twenty two other tributes died in that Arena. Good people, who could have done something with their lives. And we'll never get to know them. I'm glad that Kristian and I can spend our lives together, but I wish it didn't have to be in this way. Criistal was an amazing friend, and I know she's here today, with us now. She didn't have to do what she did, but I thank God every day I wake up by Kris that she did. I love her for that, and I wish she could have lived through the Games. That's what I think. Now excuse me, I want to go. So move your asses or I'll move them for you." She shoves the reporter, and the others follow suit, making a pathway for them to get through. I merely float through them all, following Antoinette.

We reach the place Antoinette and Kris will be staying, a hotel close to the colleseum, and they go their seperate ways, getting ready for tomorrow.

_l::l_

While they sleep, I travel to my district, soaring over the trees and the roads, traveling faster than any hovercraft or fighter jet.

I land in the square, and walk down through the streets until I reach the outside my house, and walk silently though the door.

Mother and Father are watching the television screen, seeing Antoinette and Kris' arrival to the Capitol.

"Those poor people." Mother says, and she stands, heading to the kitchen.

"How so?" Father asks.

"They have to deal with the tributes' deaths, including Criistal's. They didn't kill her, but it's still hard. She died right in front of them, the brave little thing." She chokes out a sob, and Father wraps his arms around her.

"She did what she had to do." He says, and they stand there for a while.

I walk to the garden, unable to watch anymore.

I find the crate in the backyard containing my body. From what I'd heard in the square, my burial was to be tomorrow.

I open the box, and stare at my lifeless body.

There's not a scratch on me, as I didn't die in a fight. The small scratches I had received have been covered, and my skin looks clean and smooth, much prettier than I have ever seen it. My eyes are closed, and have black eye-liner and eye shadow along the rims and the lids. My arms are folded across my chest, my hair falling around my shoulders and face. I'm wearing a long, black and maroon laced dress that falls past my knees. My red lips are curved slightly, in a never-ending smile.

I look asleep, not dead, in an appearance that would seem normal to anyone who didn't watch me commit suicide.

I close the lid, and walk away.

I don't know where I'm going, and quite personally, I don't care. I walk through the square, seeing people both alive and dead, the dead sometimes following the living, sometimes drinking alcohol on the curb, sometimes just wandering around, a far off look in their eyes.

I see Amy, the small girl that had died a couple Games ago. She was only twelve; no girl had bothered to volunteer to take her place.

I also see Danni, a seventeen year old boy that had died just this year, due to an illness that we didn't know how to cure. He was smiling, walking with Rain, a fifteen year old who had also died in the Games.

I suddenly realize, most of the dead people walking on our streets are young- most being younger than twenty. There are those that have died of sickness when they were older, but a majority of them are small children.

I'm still walking through the square when I see him. He looks the same as it did in the Arena, his green eyes shining with happiness as he stops by the fountain, smiling as he sees me.

"Tres!" I call out, and I sprint towards him, his arms held out for an embrace. I jump on him, and we fall back, into the fountain. We don't get wet, instead a swift coldness surrounds me, and in fact, the part that startles me the most, I can still _breathe. _We sit up in the water, laughing and smiling and receiving odd looks from the few people that can see us.

"Hey, Criistal. How are you doing?" He asks, and I laugh.

"Oh, just _excellent._ I'm learning a lot now that I'm dead." I smile, and he laughs.

"I saw that. I was here watching you from behind my parents. That was brave, and incredibly amazing. They deserved it." He put his arm around my waist, and pulled me closer.

"How did it feel, for you?" I ask, "Did it hurt? It didn't for me, but I didn't get hit by a weapon." I look up at him, and he smiles.

"Hey, don't worry about it. It only hurt for a couple of seconds, and then I just….. slipped away." He shrugged, and I sighed in relief.

"Oh, good. I'm glad you didn't suffer." I put my head on his shoulder, watching as Fen and Ty, two victors of the Hunger Games, walk happily by, hand in hand.

"The only time I suffered was when I thought that you were going to die, painfully, or knowing I would never see you again. You made a big impact on me, you know, the month we knew each other." He looks down at me, no longer smiling, but honest, and sad.

"Well I'm here now, aren't I?" I ask, and I kiss him.

_l::l_

Years have passed, Tres and I moving from place to place, visiting Antoinette and Kris, the Capitol, and home.

Each year, more and more tributes come home, ghostly and scared, and we welcome them back.

Each year, we're slowly re-united with our friends, in the worst way possible.

Death.

The Capitol slowly grows weaker, and the districts slowly grow stronger, as more and more Capitol members begin to realize the cruelty the Hunger Games have brought to Panem.

Soon, the districts will rise.

And we'll be right there, when Panem will once again be free.

* * *

**END**

* * *

**Review! :)**

**~Maddy**


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